Man killed near Green Street in Wabash Avenue neighborhood
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A bullet hole in a mailbox silently tells of Terry Robinson's last moments of life.
“The bullet went through the mailbox right there,” neighbor Lepkicha Fields said, pointing to a mailbox that included police tape to show the scale of the hole.
"It happened right here,” she said, pointing to the corner of the lawn and the alley just north of Green Street.
Someone shot Robinson in the alley between Sycamore and First streets, falling face up — his head landing in a grassy area pointing towards Green Street and his feet in the alley, Crystal Sizemore, a neighbor, said Monday.
Robinson, 52, homeless in Lafayette, had ties to Lafayette Transitional Housing Center, according to Tippecanoe County Coroner Carrie Costello, who released Robinson's identity Monday morning.
People in the working-class neighborhood interviewed by the Journal & Courier didn't know Robinson — at least not by name.
“They had that whole block taped off,” Sizemore said, admitting she was one of the neighbors watching the police from the line created by the crime-scene tape.
She didn't hear anything. Neither did Fields, who lives one door away from the killing, but Fields admitted she had her music playing.
Fields checked her video doorbell and didn't see anything and did not hear the shot that killed Robinson, she said.
“How could it be so close and I not hear anything on my Ring (doorbell),” Fields said. “I don’t know.”
Her doorbell video also did not show anyone run past her house or run from the alley, Fields said.
Police released no new details on Monday.
Sunday, Lafayette police published a news release indicating they believed Robinson's killing was targeted.
“And the police," Fields said, "they came and said they have no clue what happened. They just got a call.”
Lafayette police bulletins indicate officers received a call about 2:07 p.m. Friday reporting Robinson lying dead in the alley.
Robinson died from at least one gunshot wound, police said.
To protect the investigation, Costello declined to comment where Robinson was shot.
Robinson's death has been ruled a homicide.
Those living in the Wabash Avenue-area neighborhood feel uncertain about their safety.
"I was able to stand here and watch my baby go to school," Fields said. "But now I’m walking her because I’m terrified out of her mind because this has never happened around in this area, and we been around here forever.
“I don’t like it,” she said. “Now I kind of feel unsafe. For something to be this close. A gunshot and we don’t hear it.”
Another neighbor told the Journal & Courier she wasn't home, but noticed a crowd gathering in front of her house.
“I wasn’t even in town," the neighbor said. “Neighbors were outside of our houses, and I saw them on our cameras.
“They were all outside of our house looking that way,” she said, pointing towards Green Street. "They said someone got shot.”
Asked if she felt safe, the neighbor said, “Not at all.
"I’m counting down my lease because this is crazy. I didn’t know it was this bad around here.”
While Fields said it wasn't that bad in the neighborhood, Sizemore said it has always been rough.
“It’s horrible here,” Sizemore said.
Police continue to investigate Robinson's killing and ask anyone with information about this killing to call investigators at 765-807-1200 or leave an anonymous message at the We Tip Hotline at 800-782-7463.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Man killed near Green Street in Wabash Avenue neighborhood
